CNIB presents Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, President of DAISY Consortium, with prestigious award to honour outstanding contribution to Canadians living with print disabilities

Québec City, Québec - Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, President of the DAISY Consortium, became the newest recipient of the prestigious Dr. Dayton M. Forman Memorial Award, as he was recognized for outstanding leadership in the advancement of library and information access to Canadians living with a print disability. The presentation took place at a reception held during the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress. The award recognizes individuals or organizations demonstrating extraordinary commitment and leadership to Canadians living with vision loss. Introduced in 1995 by CNIB, the Dr. Dayton M. Memorial Award is offered annually in memory of Dr. Forman, who was an outstanding humanitarian and longstanding CNIB volunteer.

Mr. Kawamura was recognized for his dedication and commitment to the development of equitable information access for people with print disabilities throughout the world, and specifically his work to establish DAISY (Digital Accessible Information SYstem) as an international standard for accessible information. Currently, only five per cent of published material in Canada is available in an accessible format such as DAISY that someone with a print disability can read.

Mr. Kawamura was an advocate at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) where he co-hosted the Global Forum on Disability in the Information Society, and at the UN where the outcome of the World Summit was successfully transferred to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In 2003, on behalf of the international DAISY Consortium, Mr. Kawamura undertook project management of the DAISY for All project. This project brings DAISY technology into developing countries, and includes local training, production and distribution of DAISY reading materials.

Mr. Kawamura has had a profound impact on the lives of so many people with print disabilities worldwide, says Margaret McGrory, his work with the DAISY Consortium, the DAISY for All project in developing countries and his international advocacy for equal access to information for people with print disabilities, is truly inspiring. The CNIB Library has benefited from Mr. Kawamura's leadership in the field of accessible formats and his dedication to making DAISY an international open standard. Today, the CNIB Library has thousands of titles in the DAISY format available to its users across Canada.